VBS Archives

When it comes to picking out Vacation Bible School (VBS) programs, finding a curriculum that’s both theologically progressive and comprehensive can be daunting. For years, churches have had to figure out how to piece together various materials to develop a VBS experience that aligns with their values. Enter Compassion Camp, a breath of fresh air in the VBS curriculum world, offering a complete curriculum designed for today’s progressive churches.

A Singular, Comprehensive Package

What sets Compassion Camp apart is that with one purchase, you get the entire curriculum. When you choose Compassion Camp for your VBS program, you’re choosing simplicity and completeness. With your one purchase, you receive the whole curriculum—there’s no need to buy additional materials or supplemental add-ons.

Theologically Progressive and Engaging

Compassion Camp: What Every Living Thing Needs is an earth-care curriculum focused on the more-than-human world. While humans are a part of God’s creation, we aim to explore the needs of every living thing for shelter, food, water, air, and community through awareness, gratitude, wonderment, reciprocity, and kinship, and specifically, practice ways humans can have compassion for the more-than-human world regarding those needs.

With Compassion Camp, you won’t have to completely rewrite the Bible content or discussion sections. The material is engaging, relatable, and appropriate for kids of all ages. Learn more here.

Engaging, Lively, and Meaningful

“In my twelve years of doing VBS here at First Pres Santa Monica, I can’t remember a VBS program more engaging, lively, meaningful, and loved by children, parents, and staff than Compassion Camp.”

–Peter Earhart
Director of Children’s and Family Ministry
First Presbyterian Church
Santa Monica, CA

The curriculum includes a Director’s Guide with over 400 pages of material, activities, games, sheet music, and more, ensuring a well-structured and engaging Vacation Bible School program. Leader guides for each component of Compassion Camp, including a five-session version for youth, provide clear instructions and creative ideas to facilitate each session effectively. Learn more here.

Music and Lyrics to Enrich the Journey

Compassion Camp’s Theme Song: A Creation Hymn

Music is vital to any VBS program, and Compassion Camp excels in this area. The Director’s Guide contains chord charts and sheet music for six original songs, also available on popular music streaming platforms. Additionally, lyric videos, including instrumental versions, are accessible on YouTube, adding an audiovisual dimension to the VBS experience.

Flexible and Adaptable for Your Church’s Needs

Flexibility is a cornerstone of Compassion Camp. Whether planning a traditional 5-day Vacation Bible School program or looking to spread it out over several weeks, Compassion Camp adapts to your church’s unique needs. Its versatility also makes it suitable for family camp weekends or as part of a church-wide program. Learn more here.

20% OFF through Cyber Monday

In the spirit of making Compassion Camp accessible to more churches, we’re excited to announce a special offer. From now through Cyber Monday, Compassion Camp is available at a 20% discount. This is an excellent opportunity for churches to embrace a progressive, comprehensive VBS curriculum at an unbeatable value.

But don’t wait too long – the sale will end in:

High Praise from Experienced Vacation Bible School Leaders

The impact of Compassion Camp is best highlighted by those who have experienced it first-hand. Peter Earhart, Director of Children’s and Family Ministry at First Presbyterian Church in Santa Monica, CA, shares, “In my twelve years of doing VBS here at First Pres Santa Monica, I can’t remember a VBS program more engaging, lively, meaningful, and loved by children, parents, and staff than Compassion Camp.” Read more testimonials here.

Take the Next Step: Download a Free Sample

We understand the importance of experiencing the curriculum before making a decision. That’s why we invite you to download a free sample of Compassion Camp. This sample will give you a glimpse into the rich content, progressive approach, and practical resources that make Compassion Camp a leading choice for VBS programs. You will receive the entire first session to review and show to your colleagues and other decision-makers in your community.

Compassion Camp combines theological progressiveness with comprehensive content. Its one-purchase, all-inclusive nature, coupled with the engaging and dynamic materials, makes it an ideal choice for churches seeking a meaningful and impactful VBS experience. Take advantage of the limited-time discount and download a free sample today. Embrace a VBS curriculum that aligns with your values and simplifies your preparation process. Choose Compassion Camp for your next VBS program. Learn more here.

St John VBS Illustrated Compassion

We have put together a concise summary of St. John in the Wilderness Episcopal Church’s experience using An Illustrated Compassion for their Vacation Bible School. If you are looking for something that would be easy to print out and take to a staff or committee meeting, you can download the free PDF here.

Summertime is the season for VBS, and we are so excited to share with you how St. John in the Wilderness Episcopal Church used An Illustrated Compassion curriculum for their VBS program! We recently caught up with Rona Pasch, Director of Children’s Ministry at St. John’s, and she gave us the skinny on how it all went.

The Search for VBS Curriculum

Rona, before we get into Illustrated Compassion specifically, have you typically come up with your VBS program?
I am relatively new to children’s ministry (my background is in elementary and early childhood education). So, this will be the second VBS I have planned. I used a free curriculum last year as a base and molded it to fit the abilities and personality of our church.

What are your thoughts on the standard VBS curricula out there in the children’s ministry marketplace?
I think all models of VBS can be good. It all depends on the size of the church and what the demographics are. We are a medium sized church, so I probably have more creative wiggle room than I would otherwise. It means I have many options and don’t necessarily have to use a boxed VBS.

Choosing An Illustrated Compassion

What made you think about using ICM’s Illustrated Compassion curriculum?
First, I loved the broad theme of compassion. Like it says in the ICM description, no matter where you are on the theological or political spectrum, it’s clear our world needs more compassion. I was also drawn to the creative side to the curriculum. We have used the coloring posters in the past, and they work for all age groups. Additionally, this curriculum allows for a lot of flexibility. I could tweak it to fit our church’s personality, which I’m a big fan of. I also love that it includes the music, which was a major selling point for our music director. We even sang both of the songs during our worship service and hung up the coloring posters the Sunday after VBS.

St John VBS Illustrated Compassion

Making It Their Own

How did you use ICM’s curriculum?
We used An Illustrated Compassion’s Module 3 to create a 4-day VBS, using each day as a different Bible story/verse. What I found most adaptable was the Compassion in Action portion. I used local resources whenever possible for those activities.

For example, I’d already discussed doing blessing bags with our priest. So, when I saw the idea for Compassion Packs in the curriculum, it was perfect! We got donations from the congregation, and the kids packed the bags during VBS. Then, they handed them out the following Sunday. We also have a garden of veggies we grow to donate to the local food shelf. So, we spent time weeding and picking produce. I worked with another local organization to write “welcome home” letters to people transitioning out of homelessness.

What did you add or change to make ICM’s curriculum usable as your VBS program?
First off, I added a creative arts portion that included painting, recreating stories using Lego, etc. This was also a time used for coloring the posters. Also, we colored kindness cards that lined the walkway up to our church and were sent home with the children to hand out or sneak into library books. Additionally, there’s a great selection of picture books about showing compassion. So, I created a small reading area with those books available during down times. Lastly, I added a time for a physical activity. Since the theme was compassion, we did team building games. There weren’t specific winners; instead, team members encourage each other along the way.

Hopes for the VBS Curriculum

What did you hope your church community would get out of An Illustrated Compassion curriculum?
I hoped to educate the kids and adult volunteers about what the Bible teaches about showing compassion to one another. In addition to that, I hoped we’d discover how easy it is to do so. And by tying in local resources and organizations, I dreamed that this would inspire our church and families to support our local community and to build on what we’re already doing.

Takeaways from the Experience

St John VBS Illustrated Compassion
Why do you think it works well?
Well, first, it has a great layout and includes fabulous ideas for telling the stories. It also has follow-up questions and ideas for activities and projects, which are great. I know many other colleagues are already using resources and products from Illustrated Ministry in their churches, and it lines up with our theology very well. I could feel confident that the kids will not only be learning specific Bible stories and verses, but also how to use those in their everyday lives to show compassion to others.

Would you recommend ICM curriculum for VBS to your friends and colleagues?
Yes, absolutely! I would definitely encourage other churches to use this curriculum.

We loved hearing Rona’s story about how they used An Illustrated Compassion for their Vacation Bible School program. If you are thinking of using it for your VBS program, or you want to think of other ways your church could use it, I’d recommend downloading our free summary page of this blog post. Our free summary highlights what Rona’s church appreciated about An Illustrated Compassion, and how they were able to customize it to their ministry context. You can download that PDF here.

Compassion Camp: The Progressive, All-in-One Vacation Bible School Curriculum